Starvation
by NinjaFromNarnia
Summary: Lilith is back, but not with her lover Drake. She resides with Sam Temple and the rest of the townies. She's even becoming an outstanding citizen. Drake however, is left all by his lonesome in Coats academy with people he hates, and revenge and power on his mind. As Drake and Lilith struggle in the odd relationship a new comer arrives, one they call the Puppet Master.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of Hunger, all rights to Michael Grant. I own Lilith and Jake, my OCs.**

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_A demon is a human soul. It was once pure, but through a life of hatred, the soul becomes stained, blacked, and horribly foul. When the human dies the soul descends into Hell, a place where Satan's very first demons luck, ready to torture the souls they receive beyond belief, ready to make the souls that were once human, one of them. _

_A demons purpose is to gain power and destroy human lives, and even tempt some over to the gates of Hell. The possess human in the form of a black cloud, entering though the mouth then taking over the host's body._

_A demon can't take over the human body for the rest of the human life, as long as it is not exercised. And the only way to tell if a human is possessed is if the demon shows it true eyes to you._

_Eyes completely onyx, eyes like the pits of Hell._

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Lilith's POV

"Lil wake up!" Jake burst into my room, his wet hair all over the place, his eyes wild.

"What the hell Jake, you look like you just escaped from an asylum." I groaned as I peeked out from underneath my mound of pillows.

"Because we are late! Sam is already here to get you, get dressed!" he yelled and field the room.

I groaned in protest as I got up from bed, I scampered to my closet and slipped on my black skinny jeans and a navy muscle shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, I shoved my feet into my knee-high boots then yanked a brush through my black hair. After my hair was no longer a tumble weed, I threw it into a sleek pony-tail and ran out the door.

"Hey Sam!" I greeted my friend happily, "So sorry I'm late, Jake didn't wake me up." I said as I hopped in the jeep, which a cute Mexican by the name of Edilio Escobar, and sat in the back seat with a random kid singing along to his iPod, and Albert Hillsborough.

"Not a problem, Lillith." Sam smiled lightly.

The kid I was seated to smiled at me, he pulled an ear bud from his ear and greeted me happily, "Hey, I'm E.Z.; I don't think I've ever seen you around before."

"You probably haven't because I came down from Coates, I wasn't here every long." I say indifferently.

"Oh," E.Z. dragged out then shook his head, "Must have sucked those guys are crazy. And that guy Drake? He was so wicked crazy! Did you see that thing he had on his arm on the day of the battle? Crazy." E.Z. shook his head and smiled, then put his ear bud back in his ear and continued to sing along to some song I didn't recognize.

"So what are we going look at in this field anyway?" I ask as I gazed out the fields, my eyes landing on a tipped over tractor.

"Cabbage." Albert replied.

"Cabbage?" Same questioned.

"That's what Edilio said. He's the one that found it yesterday." Albert said as he motioned to Edilio with his jaw/

"It makes you fart," Edilio said with a wink, "But we can't be too choosy."

"Hmm," I grumbled, "Watch me."

Edilio turned toward me with a smile tugging at his lips, besides Quinn, Edilio was the only other person besides my brother to open me back with open arms. "_Sabía que ibas a ver la luz, mi amigo_.1" He had said, "_Yo te creí_.2"

"Really now, _pequeña flor*_?" Edilio asked as he raised a brow.

"Yes, I don't like that stuff," I made a sour face, "I rather fruit, that's why I'm goring a garden with the seeds from the garden department. Quinn's supposed to go out today and hand out seeds for people to plant, and I'll go by later and help them grow."

"Good idea, _pequeña flor__3_." Edilio smiled as he eyed the bumpy road carefully.

"Aw come on Lilith, it wouldn't be so if we had coleslaw." Sam said.

"In truth, I could happily eat a cabbage right now."

"You know what I had for breakfast?" Edilio asked. "A can of succotash."

"What the hell is that?" I asked, befuddled.

"Lima beans and corn. Mixed together." Edilio braked at the edge of the field. "Not exactly fried eggs and sausage."

"I would say not," I mumbled.

"Is that the official Honduran breakfast?" Sam asked.

Edilio snorted. "Man, the official Hondorian breakfast when you're poor is a corn tortilla, some left over beans, and on a good day a banana. On a bad day it's just the tortilla."

Edilio killed the engine and set the emergency brake. "This isn't my first time being hungry."

"There's my _tipo duro__4_," I giggled as I jumped from the jeep.

"E.Z., you coming are you going to continue your concert?" I said as I waved at the younger boy.

"Oh, yeah!" he said as he too jumped from the jeep and followed behind me.

"Hey, that looks like lettuce." E.Z. said as he began to wrap his ear bud around his iPod.

"If only," Sam sighed. "SO far we have avocados, that's fine, and cantaloupes, which is excellent news. But we are finding way too much broccoli and artichokes. Lots of artichokes. Now cabbage."

"How does that sound pequeña flor?" Edilio asked with a smile.

I shrugged, "I like cantaloupe."

Edilio let out a laugh and slung his arm around me, "Of course you do, but we may get oranges back eventually. I know you like those." He smiled as he tapped under my chin with two fingers.

"The trees looked ok. It was just the fruit was ripe and didn't get picked, so it rotted."

Astrid says things are ripening at weird times," Sam said. Not normal."

"As Quinn likes to say, 'we're a long way from normal,'" I said.

"Who's going to pick all these?" Sam asked.

I stopped moving for a moment and put my finger to my lips. Who indeed. No adult wanted to pick crops the old fashioned way, much less a child, or in our case, a bunch. Breeze and I could probably make quick work of it, but I don't exactly think babying them in such a harsh reality is a good idea.

I looked towards Albert who had started to say something, then stopped himself when E.Z. said, "Hey, I'll go grab one of these cabbages right now. I'm starving." He unwound his ear buds and stuck them back in his ears.

The cabbages were a foot or so apart within their rows, and each row was two feet from the next. The soil between was crumpled and dry. The cabbages looked more like thick-leafed house plants than something you might actually eat. It didn't look that much different than anything else I'd seen on the way to the fields.

But there was something odd about the place, the earth felt weird here. I stooped down and pressed my palm to the earth. The Earth was alive like it always was; I could feel the roots of the plants, the growth and the nutrients in the soil, but there was something in there that did not feel right. I bit my lip as I thought about what could be wrong.

I cocked my head to the side, the area was quiet, there we no bugs making noise, the birds flying overhead. It was too quiet. But why?

"I don't even want to think about how many farts this all translates to," E.Z. yelled over his shoulder as he marched purposefully into the field.

I eyed the field warily, not to keen on not knowing what was not right about the area I watched as E.Z marched into the fields, "This looks like the cabbage for me."

"How can you tell?" Edilio asked.

E.Z. pulled out his ear bud, Edilio was forced to repeat his question.

"I'm tired of walking. This must be the right cabbage. How do I pick this thing?"

Edilio shrugged, "Man, I think you need a knife."

I walked over to Edilio, my eyes never leaving the field; maybe I was just being paranoid.

"Nah," E.Z. replaced the ear bud, bent over, and yanked at the plant. He got a hand full of leaves for his effort.

"You see what I'm saying," Edilio commented.

"Where are the birds?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but listen, there are no bugs around either." I said suspiciously.

"What birds?" Edilio asked. Then he nodded, "I see what you're saying. There are gulls all over the other fields."

"They must not like cabbage." Albert reasoned. He sighed before saying, "I don't honestly know anyone who does."

E.Z. squatted down before the cabbage, rubbed his hands in preparation, worked them down beneath the leaves, down to cradle the cabbage. Then he felt back down on his rear end. "OW!" he yelled.

"Not so easy is it?" Edilio teased.

"Ah! Ah!" E.Z. jumped to his feet. He was holding his right hand with his left and starring hard at his hand. "No, no, no."

My eyes shot up towards the kid in the field.

Sam's eyes located the screaming E.Z. as well, concern crossed over his features and he asked, "What's the matter?"

"Something bit me!" E.Z. cried. "Oh, oh, it hurts. It hurts. It-"E.Z. let loose a scream of agony. The scream startled low and went higher, higher into hysteria.

I zoomed in on E.Z. with my vision I could see something worm like crawling up E.Z.'s pant leg.

"Snake!" Sam said to Edilio.

E.Z.'s arm went into a spasm, it shook violently, as if some individual giant had hold of it and were yanking his arm as and as fast as it could.

E.Z. screamed and did a crazy dance, he screeched, "Their in my feet, their in my feet!"

"E.Z.!" I screamed as I darted forward, only to have Edilio wrap a strong, restraining arm around my waist.

"Lilith look at the ground! The soil! It's moving it's alive!" he whispered huskily in my ear.

My eyes landed on the soil in which the cabbages resided, and I soon found that Edilio was right; the ground was alive with the same things that I had seen on E.Z.'s pant leg.

"Sam no! Lilith grab him!" Edilio shouted as Sam darted forward like I had done moments before, about to step out into the infested field. I threw out my hand; a huge burst of wind came forward, sending Sam rolling across the ground. Edilio left my side in a second, he pinned Sam to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Sam demanded, as he struggled as he tried to free himself.

"Man, look. Look!" Edilio whispered. Sam's face was mere feet from the field's start, his eyes widened as he came to the realization Edilio and I had. The worm, worms as big as garter snakes were seething up from beneath the dirt. Dozen's on the surface, but I could feel many more vibrating underneath the ground, that was the feeling I couldn't place, for the worms were still before, but now we had awakened them. The worms headed toward E.Z., every last one of them that could be seen, all the while E.Z. screamed with agony.

Edilio let Sam go; I jogged up to them and stood beside Edilio, who threw an arm around my waist, pulling my head into his shoulder. I watched through wide, neon blue eyes as E.Z. came staggering wildly towards Sam, who now stood just before the first row of cabbages, walking as if he were being electrocuted, his body spazzing awkwardly, flailing like a fish out of water.

A few feet away from us, we watched in horror as a worm burst from E.Z.'s throat, then another from is jaw, just below his left ear.

"Holy fucking…" my voice drifted off in sheer disbelief.

E.Z. collapsed to the ground, he was close enough that I could snatch him with my speed and drag him over to us, but Edilio had me nailed in place.

"X-Ray vision," I murmured.

Instantly, the world became black and white, the bones on my friends and acquaintances became visible and I looked at E.Z., and wrinkled up my face in disgust.

Within E.Z.'s body I counted seven of the worms, seven mutant creatures eating him from the inside out, I watched as his body collapsed, his legs folding awkwardly together, and E.Z. didn't move.

"Sam," he boy grunted desperately, "Help me…"

The boy's eyes were on Sam, pleading with Sam to do the impossible, pleading with Sam to save him from this madness. I shook my head, knowing what to do, knowing the boys fate.

I could hear the crunching of the worms, head them moving writhing the lifeless boy, hear them feasting upon the body's flesh like they were kings. I snared viscously.

"My God..." Sam muttered as he watched E.Z.'s body, my eyes turned to see the lifeless corpse just in time to watch a worm slither from his mouth.

Sam raised his hands, palms out, I mimicked him, ready to fire, to keep the worms from having their victory, but Albert interrupted. "Sam! Lilith, no!" he yelled. "He's already dead. He's already dead."

"Albert's right, guys. Don't do it, don't burn them they're staying in the field, don't give them a reason to come after us," Edilio hissed. I watched as Edilio reached out a hand to grip Sam shoulders, the tips of his fingers.

"Hey won't come after us if I set them all ablaze," I snarled, flames making their way up my arms.

"Then we'd destroy the crop." Albert said.

"Well how the fuck do you expect us to get the crop when their arm man-eating worms in the field? Call me crazy, but that's not a job I'd sign up for. Everything's already trying to fucking kill," I hissed.

I hear an intake of breath, I figured Edilio was going to fuss at me, but when I turned toward him I saw tears rolling down his tanned face.

"And do not touch him," He sobbed, "_Perdoneme_, forgive me, don't touch him."

I edged away from the others slightly, my eyes locked in their X- Ray vision, my palm on the ground as I looked out at the fields. _There are so many_, I though sourly as I felt their lively pulsing beneath the earth, and watched the ones on the surface of the ground slither towards the human body being devoured.

I switched my eyes back to normal, which had now become raptor vision, and walked back to the three boys who were watching E.Z.'s lifeless body being devoured. After what seemed like an eternity, the demonic beings slithered back into the ground from wench they came, leaving a human carcass behind.

"There all over this field," I stated. "But not the others. The others are completely clean, from what I can see on the surface, anyway.

However, only Albert noted what I said, Sam and Edilio were gazing at the body of E.Z., "I'll come back with a shovel," Edilio rasped. "We can't take E.Z. home man; he's got two little brothers. They don't need to be seeing this. We'll burry him here."

"If these things spread..." Edilio started.

"We'll all starve," I finished.

I growled softly, my hands balling into fists, I'd seen some crazy shit since the start of this whole mess we call the FAYZ, but not even the decaying hands of the kids Caine and Drake cemented was this bad. I don't think anything could be as worse as those damn worms, feasting on a child in front of me.

"I don't think we'll need a shovel," I uttered. Sam look towards me, his eyes gilt ridden, but he nodded in understanding.

We raised our palms in unison, then Sam's brilliant beams of light shot from his hands, and black fire from mine, slowly the remnants of E.Z. were gone and Sam looked beaten down, just like after the battle before thanksgiving.

"There was nothing you could have done, Sam." Edilio said, noticing the same look in his friends' eyes I had. "It's the FAYZ, man. It's just the FAYZ."

* * *

**Spanish translations:**

**I knew you would see the light, my friend.**

**I believed you.**

**Little flower**

**Tough guy**


	2. Drake's Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of Hunger, all rights to Michael Grant. I own Lilith and Jake, my OCs.**

**LIGHT thoughts: So I am currently slaughtering Light, its epic, however, I can take Drake seriously. Though a turn of event she gets lizard tail that sticks out of his head and all I can imagine if he tried to threaten me was watching the tail flick back and forth. I'd ask him to let me cut it off, and then he could threaten me or whatever. But anyway, **

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_"Drake," a soft voice sang somewhere off in the distance._

_"Lilith?" he called out, knowing the voice that made his heart flutter widely._

_"Yes, silly! Are you coming?" she asked._

_Drake looked around, everything was white, there was no one around, he himself wasn't even there, and it was as if he were a pair of eyes gazing about._

_"Our picnic! The one I'd been planning?" she asked in that sarcastic tone of hers._

_Suddenly Drake was whole, his feet were standing on a roughed up dirt road, and ahead of him, wearing a black dress, was Lilith._

_She smiled brightly at him, her black hair waving in the wind, a whickered picnic basket tossed over her shoulder. Her black dress's ruffles waved in the wind, she was in black and white DC shoes and here right foot was tapping impatiently, although her face had an amused look on it._

_"Um, yeah! I'm coming," Drake said confused, and then running up to Lilith, taking her hand in his, and noticing that he had both his arms back._

_"Great!" Lilith beamed, and then she continued walking with her hand in his, the basket swinging._

_"Do you want me to hold that?" Drake asked._

_"Nah, I got it," she winked. _

_"Of course you do," Drake chuckled._

_"Oh, look I like that spot," Lilith declared. She tugged Drake in the direction of a field, what the crop was he did not know, and truth be told, he didn't care. He was just happy to have his love at his side. _

_Lilith stopped and put the basket down, she opened it up and pulled out a red and white checkered blanket and spread it out on the ground. She then drew all sorts of food from the basket, some things came out of there and Drake wondered for a moment how she crammed everything in such a basket. She pulled a few bottles of Fuse tea, a huge bowl of fried chicken, some mashed potatoes and gravy, some macaroni and cheese, some fries and a dirt cake, his favorite._

_"There, I think I have enough she said as she opened the containers. She pulled out paper plates and utensils and handed Drake his._

_"I think you brought more than enough," Drake laughed as he walked up beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist gently. "I miss you," He murmured as he hugged her to him, his cheek resting on her hair, "So much." He sighed as he squeezed her gently._

_"Why didn't you fight for me then?" a twisted version of Lilith's voice replied._

_There was an absence in Drake's arm and he looked down, not finding Lilith._

_"Lilith," he asked worriedly, "Where are you? Lilith," he called._

_Drake spun in a circle, but he couldn't see well, for the strong wind threw his hair in his face, and the once blue sky was now and dark, stormy blue. _

_"You just let me go," the voice said, "Like you didn't care. You left me behind, you didn't stay with me."_

_Drake looked to the fields, the soil was moving, alive with huge worms, tunneling thought the soil. "You left me there to die." The voice sounded animated, a disoriented version of his love's own, like one from the horror movies._

_"Lil," Drake cried, he spun around looking for her, then found her in the field, the worms circling her. Only, this did not look like Lilith at all._

_The Lilith he saw stood awkwardly, her legs spread apart and her head leaning on her shoulder, her unordinary(Because they are usually neon blue) pale blue eyes staring straight at him. Her once beautiful dress was caked with blood and dirt, there were rips and tears, large holes in random spots were blood leaked from her body. _

_Her right arm was bone, pieces of flesh hung off the bone. Her face was bruised, her mouth hung open, her lips were blood red and chapped and a huge bleeding gash covered her left eye. The worms circled her and then she let out and ear piercing scream._

_"You left me to die!" Lilith fell forward, worms sprouted from her legs as she wailed. Her hands dug into the dirt as she crawled forward, Drake watched, his mouth agape as he watched worms burst from her skin._

_"You killed me," she whispered in a ragged voice as she dropped beside Drake's feet, her lifeless eyes staring up at him as he stared down at her destroyed body._

_"Lilith," he croaked as he fell his knees over her tattered body, he reached out a hand to close her eyes, but her hand shot forward, grabbing his wrist in an iron grip._

_"One hundred-six hours, six minutes, that's when you will die" the twisted, echoing voice replied, then released Drake's wrist._

Drake shot up in bed, his hair dripping with sweat and his body heaving with heavy pants. Drake lifted his hand to wipe his face and sucked in gulps of air.

He threw his legs from bed and walked over to the bathroom, he slammed his palm on the counter and looked at his reflection, his brown hair hung limply in his face, and there were dark bags under his grey eyes. Drake snarled slightly and looked at his wrist, his eyes widening slightly as he saw the bruise on his wrist on which Lilith had grabbed in his dream.

"The fuck," he growled.

Drake shook his head as he stripped and got into the shower, washing all the sweat from his body, he soon emerged and half-ass dried his hair before drying the rest of himself off and going grab a fresh pair of boxers.

Drake lay back in his bed, stumbling in the dark before, and sighed as he rubbed at his eyes and rest his head against the pillow.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then he heard a noise; he tilted his head slightly, listening to see if another noise was made or if it was just his dream making him paranoid. But after a few moments he heard something that sounded like nails hitting against his window glass. Then, he heard the window being lifted slowly, and the thump of boots on the window seal. Drake stiffened up, his gun was all the way across the room and he was still practicing him aim with his whip arm.

Drake forced himself to relax, as if he was asleep. He heard the familiar trotting steps of combat boots coming closer to his bed. Drake couldn't hear them breathing, and he stiffened up slightly as he felt the bed dip under the person's weight. He heard a light sigh, one that was heart-breakingly familiar. This person in his room was not anyone from Coates, nor was it someone who Sam had sent to kill him. He knew that sigh, he had heard it hundreds of times before, and adored it and the person it come from.

Lilith.

Her hand touched his face, he sighed gently, making Lilith recoil slightly, but when he didn't stir, she continued to rub her thumb on his cheek.

"You're ok," she murmured, "You're alright."

She leaned closer and kissed his forehead, then his lips, then Drake left her slip from his bed and he heard the window close.

Drake lay still for a long time, his mind on her kiss, on her touch. She's alive and okay, she's free, they haven't caged her, he thought in relief. He groaned, but that made it so much worse, because even though she was free, she wasn't coming to stay with him.


	3. Enter the Puppet Master

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of Hunger, all rights to Michael Grant. I own Lilith and Jake, my OCs.**

* * *

Unknown POV

I walked down the highway, my large black bag of luggage rolling behind me, my small back pack from Mexico jumping slowly at my fast pace. My IPod was on full blast as I listened to Kenney Chesney's _Keg in the Closet_, my brown cowgirl boots clicked on the surface of the paved road as I absent mindedly walked.

My one free hand swung at my side, my cowgirl hat blocked the sun from face, with the help of my big sunglasses, of course. I smiled proudly as the sand from Bitterweed Valley vanished, signifying that I was halfway to my destination, Perdido Beach. I had started walking around six this morning to the small surfer town from the Stefano Ray Nation Park where my friend Orsay and I had lived for years, our father being Rangers and all. When our fathers and the rest of the Park' staff had vanished Orsay and I discovered that the TV, our cell phones and internet had become useless, and then we'd realized that there was a giant dome running through the woods, and upon inspection by telescope it ran just past the town, into the ocean and through Lake Tramonto in a perfect circle.

Orsay and I had been living off of the food throughout the park, but it was running low, and neither of us had any idea as to what had happened to our world, our families, and I just couldn't sit idly any longer.

So, here I was, at six o'clock in the afternoon, practically power walking on the highway with Glock 40 in my belt loop, bow and arrows carefully placed in my luggage bag. What was I scared of? Coyotes. Filthy mangy mutts had been thriving lately, a fact that left me uneasy as I waked into the dimming light of the sky.

Drake watched though binoculars as a girl walked down the highway, a bag of luggage behind her as she trotted along in her cowboy boots. Drake smiled as he watched the girl, a pretty little thing, a pretty, unattended little thing. He imagined the thrill of whipping her, slashing into the perfectly tanned skin of hers.

Drake's slips peeled back in a menacing grin as his cold eyes watched the girl. She was very pretty, much like Lilith, except Lilith's was a dark beauty, but this girl was a cheery beauty who grinned absentmindedly as she walked along the highway.

She was short, maybe five feet tall, with naturally tanned skin and maroon hair that was braided in two braids that ran down her shoulder over her chest, Drake noticed breasts that were larger than Lilith's. She wore short jean shorts, brown, knee high, square toed cowgirl boots, a green plaid button down shirt that tied up in the front, exposing her belly button that was pieced. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and cuffed. Atop her head was a cowboy hat that matched her brown boots perfectly.

Her face had bangs that covered her right eye, but she had them tucked away behind her ear so that she could properly see. Her eyes were larger than Lilith's but had the same almond shaped structure. Her eyes were a stormy shade of green framed by her diamond shaped face. Her nose was perfectly straight and slightly rounded at the end. Her eyelashes were thick and full, and Drake found himself staring at her as he had Lilith.

"Caine," he called from his place by the window in the principal's office.

"What?" Caine asked as he flipped though some information on the desk, probably about how much food they had at the school.

"We have a hiker down on the highway." Drake stated. He watched as Caine arose from his seat and strutted to the window. Drake handed him the binoculars and Caine peered through them.

"Looks like she's come from the National Park," he said. "Drake, go get her. Be nice, she might be useful, she's a face Sam does not know." Drake nodded and grabbed his shotgun that propped up against the wall and slung it over his shoulder, then headed out the door.

It was a short jog up the road to Coates, but a longer run to meet the girl, when he got in eye shot he noticed things about her he had not seen with the binoculars, like the light freckles dusting her face, a necklace with a cowboy boot dangled around her neck and her cheeks were slightly red from the sun.

"Hey!" he called in his friendliest tone. This was a job Caine was better suited for, he could charm her into believing any story he wanted.

The girl gazed up at him and waved, then pulled out her iPod, paused it and took out her headphones and stuck it in a bag behind her back. She sped up her walk as Drake jogged over to meet her.

"Hi," She smiled as she met him half way.

"Hey," he nodded, "You traveling?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was trying to get down to Perdido Beach before nightfall; I didn't remember there was a boarding school here."

"Well looks like this is your lucky night, the coyotes have been very active recently." He said.

"Guess so," she said as she rubbed her right arm with her left.

"I saw you from the window, decided I'd come get you so you didn't have to walk through the night." He tried to smile.

"Thanks," she smiled pleasantly.

"Let me get that for you," Drake said as he grabbed her suit case.

"Oh, thanks. I've been lugging that thing around all day."

I walked into the ex-principal's office to see a boy and a girl, both good looking at that that. The girl eyed me with dark eyes that made me want to shrink back through the door way, but I held my ground and set my dark green eyes on hers, assessing her.

She held her head up high, a sign of pride. She had long, dark hair that was mostly straight but held a few untamed waves. The boy, who was seated at the principal's desk with his hands folded on the desk, wore a sincere smile on his face, though, I noticed, it didn't fully meet his eyes. He had dark hair that fell down to his shoulders, but was neatly groomed. His eyes were a standard brown and he wore what I assumed to be the school uniform. He was very handsome, but I preferred men with black hair and blue eyes.

"Hello," the boy smiled as he gracefully got up from his seat and confidently walked over to me. He offered me his hand, which I took and he introduced himself.

"My name is Caine Soren; it is nice to meet you?"

"Arwen Colt," I clarified as I let go of his hand.

"Lovely name," he said smoothly.

"Thanks," I shrugged as the girl walked over and put on a smile.

"I'm Diana Ladris," she said as she shook my hand, I watched her as her eyes slightly widened, then became normal again.

I took my hand back and stuck them in my shorts pockets and eyed them, slightly suspicious of their behavior.

"So where you coming from?" Caine asked.

"Stefano Ray National Park, my dad worked there but everyone disappeared when the dome appeared. I was living off of the food there." I said.

Caine nodded, "Anyone there with you?"

"No," I lied smoothly.

"I see. Anymore food over there?" he asked.

"Nope, my dad and one of the other rangers were supposed to be shopping the day everyone disappeared," I lied again. There was something off about the three of these kids, the two before me looked to confident and too eager to please and appear kind. The one behind me looked like he had to strain to be nice. I didn't trust these kids, but I couldn't really let them know that.

"I see," Cain said as he chewed at his thumb. I raised my brows at the action, but kept my mouth shut.

"Drake, why don't you show her to the room next to Diana's, she can set her things up for the night. Then get her something to eat, I'm sure she's hungry." Caine eyes me, as if to seek approval. I nodded my head and grabbed my bag; my muscles ached in protest, but said nothing.

I sat in a room alone; I had laid my gun and bow on the table, and left my clothes in my suitcase. My iPod was tossed on the bed I was laying on, the screen was black, and abnormal occurrence for it, being as how it was always playing music for me.

Drake had left me to my thoughts for thirty minutes, then, he would come get me and take me to get some food. I sighed as I got up from bed, my muscles were stiff. I peeled off my clothes and went wash off with a rag until I could take a long, hot shower. I applied some deodorant before I yanked on a pair of Bermuda shorts and a black V-neck shirt with a lace back. I put back on my brown boots but left my hat resting on the bed post.

As I sprayed on some perfume there was a sharp rap at the door. "Come in," I said as I fussed with my wavy hair in the mirror, fixing it into one thick braid that wrapped from the top right of my head to the bottom left, it ended at my waist.

Drake opened the door, his grey eyes raked over me, unnerving me slightly. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yup," I asked, popping the p. Drake nodded then walked from the room, me trailing behind him. We walked in silence, not that I was too sad. I was still trying to figure out the odd kids who had given me shelter. Drake and I walked into a large room with red tables, black stools sat at the edges of the tables, students dotted them. They seemed to be ignoring one another; I eyed them oddly as we passed. They all shrank back from Drake, looking at him oddly.

Perhaps it was the one arm? I shrugged, wondering how he had lost it, but decided I would not ask. We walked into the kitchen where Drake led me to a large cabinet; he opened it up, revealing tons of large, canned items. I scanned the content carefully before I saw fruit cups. My eyes lit up and I snatched two of the tiny cups.

"Hungry?" Drake smiled.

"Hell yeah," I said as I opened up the cup, wandering over to the spoons. I began to shovel the fruit into my mouth, smiling happily.

Drake laughed as he grabbed one himself and took a spoon, leaning next to me against the counter. He put the cup on the counter and ate it that way, fore he couldn't prop himself up against the counter like me. I felt kind of bad. My eyes wandered to his nonexistent arm, I never noticed I was staring.

"It was burned off," if you're wondering," he gritted his teeth. Pain flashed in his eyes, and a haunting look. "Diana had to cut it off or I would have died from infection." He said.

"I'm sorry," I said, bambi eyes looking up at him. Maybe Drake wasn't so bad. He turned and looked at me, a small, sad smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Me too."


End file.
